Say NO to charter schools (and other updates)!

Say NO to unwanted charter school “experiment” targeting communities of color

This week, State Superintendent Steve Paine reportedly ordered the creation of a “charter school pilot” project in two predominantly Black communities in Cabell and Kanawha counties.  The project would transform Mary C. Snow Elementary (in Charleston’s West side neighborhood) and Spring Hill Elementary (and Huntington’s Fairfield West neighborhood) into charter schools, after little or no conversation with these communities and their students, parents and educators. This announcement follows in the heels of Republicans’ efforts to ram charter schools through the legislature as part of the education omnibus bill.  Please sign this petition from Our Children Our Future, letting Superintendent Paine know that you support PUBLIC education and do NOT support experimenting on West Virginia’s most vulnerable communities without their input or consent.

Grassroots groups gather statewide to debrief on 2018 elections and plan future efforts together

On February 2, WVCAG and WV Working Families Party gathered together grassroots leaders from all around the state in Flatwoods to debrief lessons learned from the voter outreach and candidate recruitment efforts made by grassroots groups in the last election. Together, independent grassroots groups (not affiliated with candidates or parties) knocked on over 22,000 doors last fall, helping to deliver wins to six brand-new progressive legislators and to influence quite a few other elections. On Feb 2 we talked about how to take this work to the next level, especially by engaging frustrated and marginalized voters around economic justice issues.  Interested in getting involved?  Contact Savanna Lyons, WVCAG’s new Co-Executive Director, at savanna@wvcag.org.

WV CAG launches “Always Free WV” to help West Virginians stay up to date on top issues

This week WVCAG launched Always Free WV, a new blog and Facebook page about issues that impact working families in West Virginia.  Designed for regular folks who care about our state but don’t always geek out on politics, Always Free WV tracks what our elected leaders are doing to hurt or help working families in WV, and what we can do to hold political leaders accountable.  Our awesome contributors include Kendra Fershee, Tina Grey Russell, Ryan Frankenberry and others.  Please like and share our page!